For the second year running, the European Parliament has passed a resolution on Tibet, an autonomous region of China.
By again showing their support for the exiled Dalai Lama and his followers, some European parliamentarians have demonstrated amnesia concerning the Dark Ages of medieval Europe, while once again clearly displaying their ambition to grossly interfere in China's internal affairs.
It is quite absurd for the anti-China parliamentarians to support an exiled former Tibetan ruler and his clique, who, according to histories written by Western scholars, governed a feudal serfdom.
That ruler and his clique, the scholars wrote, trampled human rights in such a way that it clearly reminded people of medieval Europe when feudal lords abused their power and mercilessly exploited, tortured and even executed ordinary people.
The feudal serfdom in Tibet truly brought "untold suffering and destruction" to the serfs and slaves who accounted for 90 percent of the population at the time.
Tibet ruled by the Dalai Lama clique was just "hell on earth" as Charles Bell, who lived in Lhasa as a British trade representative in the 1920s, observed. Bell pointed out that the Dalai Lama's theocratic position enabled him to administer reward and punishments as he wished. That was because he held absolute sway over both this life and the next of the serfs and coerced them with that power.
Ironically, the Dalai Lama has been deliberately portrayed by some European Parliamentarians as a "human rights defender" and "a representative of Tibetan culture."
Human rights have improved dramatically over the past 50 years. But anti-China European parliamentarians often use human rights --a luxury for millions of serfs and slaves under the rule of the Dalai clique -- to put pressure on China, and more importantly, to jeopardize its territorial integrity.
In the resolution adopted Thursday, the European Parliament urged the Chinese government to consider "the Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People as a substantive discussion toward positive, meaningful change in Tibet, while conforming to the principles outlined in the constitution and laws of the People's Republic of China."
However, the document, presented to the Chinese government by the Dalai Lama's private representatives in November, seeks the political independence of Tibet under the guise of "genuine autonomy."
Experts have pointed out, also, that contradictions with China's Constitution and laws were everywhere in the "Memorandum."
It is no doubt that the issue concerning Tibet has stood in the way of a healthy and closer relationship between China and the European Union (EU). At the end of last year, for example, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's insistence on meeting the Dalai Lama led to the postponement of the EU-China summit.
Thanks to efforts from both sides, however, Sino-EU relations have rebounded from the disappointment of last year.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at EU headquarters in Brussels on Jan. 30 that China sticks to "the principle of mutual respect and total equality" based on which the EU and China can talk about every issue.
But the lack of respect from the anti-China European parliamentarians will certainly do no good for bilateral relations in the short term or in the long term. Therefore, the parliamentarians are called upon to change their biased and unbalanced stance toward China, especially on the issue concerning Tibet.
(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2009)